I was hiding in hopes of getting a photo of a newborn fawn, when this fox emerged

I was hiding in hopes of getting a photo of a newborn fawn, when this fox emerged

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Approaching 11,800-foot Franklin Pass in slot in Great Western Divide

Approaching 11,800-foot Franklin Pass in slot in Great Western Divide

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Checking the map at foot of Soldier Lake Basin

Checking the map at foot of Soldier Lake Basin

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Forester Lake, perched high in Great Western Divide

Forester Lake, perched high in Great Western Divide

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Crowd having a good time at one my shows

Crowd having a good time at one my shows

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Chron & REI host four free Tom Stienstra shows in July

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From Chronicle marketing:

San Francisco Chronicle outdoors writer Tom Stienstra will present free shows at four REIs across the Bay Area in July, with advance tickets available and early sell-outs anticipated.

Stienstra will present two shows, “Tom Stienstra’s Sierra Crossing, The Epic Trek You Can Do In A Week,” on July 22 in San Francisco and July 30 in Corte Madera, and “Tom Stienstra’s Wildlife Encounters, From Your Backyard To Far Beyond,” on July 29 in Saratoga and July 31 in Berkeley.

Stienstra is the nation’s only three-time national outdoor writer of the year and author of the bestsellers Moon California Camping and Moon California Hiking. His books will be available for purchase on site.

Each show will start at 7 p.m. Dates, locations and contacts for free tickets:

This is the show and story of the 70-mile crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range from east to west, as the first pioneers and trailblazers would have seen it — the world-class hike you can do in a week.

The trek Stienstra will describe starts from the flank of Mount Whitney, at 14,497 feet, the highest point it the Lower 48. The route then ranges over the Sierra Crest, down 5,000 feet into the Kern Canyon, then up and through a notch in the Great Western Divide to Sequoia National Park at the foot of the western Sierra.

The show will describe how you can walk in the footsteps of trailblazers and explorers, from Ed Kern to Joe Walker. The result is an experience that similar to that of the pioneers 200 years and across a pristine landscape that looks much as it did 5,000 years ago.

Awarded winner of the national Backcountry Sportsman of the Year. Reprinted as an eBook, $5.99, available at www.TomStienstra.com.

Tom Stienstra has been charged by a black bear at point-blank range in the Kings Canyon wilderness, by a grizzly bear on the Moraine River in Alaska, has tracked and sighted eight mountain lions, and found and reported the first wolf in California a full year before it was announced by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

He was once contracted for six weeks to find Bigfoot, where he located footprints that measured 17 inches long, six inches wide, and then explained them.

This new presentation features a series of outrageous photographs of bears, mountain lions, bobcats, as well as what you might find in your backyard, from raccoons to skunks, as well as how to attract the highest number and diversity of migratory songbirds to your feeders.

Stienstra will also detail how he sneaks up on bears, how to track giant buck deer – and know how big they are – without ever seeing them, and the exact places in California for the highest chance of sighting bears, lions, deer, elk, bobcat and other wildlife.